To dyed within the wool cyclists, there is just one facet to Roubaix. The well-known cobblestones, the race, and the out of doors velodrome – formally Vélodrome André-Pétrieux – that is Roubaix. Nevertheless, there’s one other facet to the northern French city, a hotbed of the textile business through the industrial revolution.
The previous glory of Roubaix is seen within the city’s artwork gallery, La Piscine, hosted in what was as soon as a surprising artwork deco swimming pool, constructed to supply the city’s staff with futuristic sanitation. Changed into a museum in 2000, the venue supplied the setting for the launch of Van Rysel-Roubaix final week, the French Continental crew from the area.
The boys’s squad are very pleased with their Roubaix heritage, with their new equipment paying homage to the museum, by means of the inclusion of the previous swimming pool’s Soleil Levant – Soleil Couchant stained glass window on the again, and the crew’s companions are displayed as stickers, which refers back to the customized of leaving stickers on the museum’s primary entrance door.
There’s extra to Roubaix than biking, however by means of the squad, the equipment, and the launch, Van Rysel-Roubaix try to point out how a lot part of the area they’re, a area well-known for bikes. The crew have Roubaix within the title, together with Van Rysel, the premium bike model whose title actually means ‘From Lille’, simply down the highway, who got here aboard in 2023. It’s a neighborhood affair.
“While you say Roubaix within the biking world, everybody thinks about Paris-Roubaix,” Baptiste Planckaert, the crew’s most senior rider, defined. “The [team’s] service course is correct subsequent to the velodrome. You see it every single day, and there are vacationers coming there. The opposite facet is that this museum, and a city with lots of people, however in biking it is one of the crucial well-known locations. It is very nice to have Roubaix on the equipment, everybody is aware of the place it’s, there isn’t any want for an introduction.”
(Picture credit score: Van Rysel)
The crew don’t have a rider from Roubaix this 12 months, though it is a long run objective of Oliver Robinet, the president of the squad, however six riders hail from the north of France or south of Belgium simply over the border, and it’s clear how a lot the realm means for the crew. The long-lasting pink equipment stands out, and is recognisable to all.
“The area is essential due to Roubaix,” Robinet mentioned. “It’s the most iconic place in biking. Probably the most stunning race on the earth takes place right here, there are two velodromes. They’ve the showers [at the velodrome] there’s the historical past. There are very deep roots of biking right here. This is the reason sooner or later, they need to journey in Paris-Roubaix. It is so essential.”
The opposite long run objective of the third division squad is to make it onto the beginning listing of Paris-Roubaix sooner or later, one thing that might require it to turn out to be no less than a ProTeam. This dream shouldn’t be out of the query, nevertheless, particularly with the backing of Van Rysel, which continues till 2029, and sees the crew use top-of-the-range Van Rysel RCR Professional and XCR bikes, RCR, RCR-F and XCR helmets, and PERF900 sun shades. All in pink, in fact.
“We needed to proceed the theme, so we saved the pink, which can be discovered within the metropolis color,” Nicolas Pierron, the CEO of Van Rysel defined of the equipment, himself sporting pink hair for the event. “We’ll have a really inventive strategy, particularly road artwork. We have now some iconic components which come by means of road artwork. Every bicycle is exclusive as a result of every bicycle is painted by hand. We have now the luck at this time to inform a narrative slightly than invent it. We have now the proper alignment between Van Rysel and Roubaix.”
The crew, which has a calendar throughout France and northern Europe, and rode the Tour of Britain final 12 months, will goal to proceed to develop this season, in an try to proceed to place Roubaix on the map.
“Roubaix is biking, Roubaix is artwork. Biking is an artwork,” Pierron concluded, proving the synergy between the city, the area, and biking as an artwork. There’s extra to biking in Roubaix, however the sport is central.
